Weather Report, the
WEEK that 'Sweetnighter' was released. The show
was at the 'Exit/Inn' in Nashville, TN. It was a
little club that featured what would now be termed 'alt
country', but also featured the occasional jazz act, eg
Mose Allison, and later in the decade, McCoy Tyner's
acoustic fusion groups. Capacity was about 70
people, with nightclub seating and a bar outside in the
adjacent room. It was two blocks from Vanderbilt
University (where I was a student). You can see
the Weather Report show mentioned in the 'bio/history'
of the club:
Anyway, the show (one of
two) was magnificent. More along the lines of
'playing the album' (though there was still quite a bit
of improv). I couldn't believe the degree of
interplay, and the mastery of (what was then) new
electronic keyboards by Joe Zawinul. What a left
hand! And I couldn't believe that a Rhodes electric
piano could sound like a guitar (wah-wah). The
combination of acoustic with electronic instruments was
very new then. The other thing I
remember about it was Eric Gravatt, a stupendous
drummer, his dynamics and energy set the music on
FIRE!! The set was less than 60 minutes, it ended
with 'Directions', the Zawinul tune that Miles
opened his shows with in '69-'70.
Having sat through multi
hour long concerts by rock groups, since then I prize
short, high impact live performances. I have never
forgotten it. My friends couldn't believe it
either, especially the variety of musicians; a
keyboardist who looked like an Austrian ski instructor,
a wild Brazilian percussionist, an Afro-American sax
virtuouso, black drummer and a Czech bassist with hands
the size of bear paws.
I think the date was May
3, 1973. They only played one or two nights.
Kind regards,
Charles Powell
Sydney, Australia
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